Glassware such as that used in a bar, restaurant, or any other establishment engaged in the service of cocktails, beer, or wine, must be stored in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of the establishment over the course of a day or evening. Typically, this glassware is stored on crowded tables, in cupboards, or on shelves, where there is a need to minimize the amount of space consumed by the glassware. In order to conserve space, glassware is commonly “nested,” i.e., stacked so that the bottom of one glass is placed inside of a second glass, and where the bottom of the second glass is placed inside of a third glass, and so on. Nesting arrangements such as this exist with as few as two glasses and may include upwards of a dozen, and sometimes more, in a single, contiguous, nested arrangement.
When glassware is stored in a nested arrangement, it is relatively common for the glasses to become stuck together, where the bottom of one glass is not easily removed from the inside of the second glass. Sometimes stacks of nested glassware become stuck in this way; where considerable force is required to remove the glasses from the nested arrangement. Where considerable force is required to dislodge glassware from a nested arrangement, an increased risk exists such that one or more glasses will break during the dislodging process. Over the course of a year, a restaurant, bar, or other establishment will spend thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, replacing broken glassware that has broken after becoming stuck in a nested arrangement or configuration. Additionally, bar keeps, bar tenders, and any other workers trying to dislodge stuck glassware from a nested arrangement may accidentally injure themselves or others with shards of broken glass. Still more danger is created from the shards of broken glass which accidentally find their way into ice chests, coolers, and sometimes into the icy drinks of unsuspecting customers.
In addition to creating a risk of injury from glassware breakage during the dislodging of stuck glassware stored in a nested arrangement, the act of nesting glassware i.e., physically placing the bottom of one glass into the opening of a second glass, can cause the bottom of the first glass to strike the rim of the second glass, causing the rim of the second glass to chip or break. This problem of breaking or chipping the rims of glassware exists because the bottoms of most glasses are made from heavy, thick layers of glass, where the rims of those same glasses are typically thin, and relatively prone to chipping and breaking. Where the rim of one glass is chipped or contains some other imperfection, the chip may cause injury to a customer and the imperfection or chip can also lessen or diminish the presentation of the contents of the glass when served to the customer. For example, a pint glass used to serve beer with thick foam will fail to hold adequate foam (or “head”) where the rim of the pint glass has imperfections or chips.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device or method permitting or providing for the efficient, space-conserving storage of large inventories of glassware in a nested arrangement or configuration while at the same time avoiding or minimizing the attendant risks associated with such a practice, including the risk of glassware breaking after the same has become stuck, or the risk of glassware becoming broken, chipped, or impaired during the nesting process.